Notes On Game 1: Mexico Versus South Africa

The Refs, Scratch That, ABC/ESPN Blows The Call

Initially, Mexico's Carlos Vela appeared to earn a place in history by tapping in the first goal of this year's World Cup off a corner kick. Then, the linesman appeared to earn a place in infamy with a offiside call the negated the strike despite a South African field player on the goal line. But wait a second! The linesman actually got it right. The South African goalkeeper had charged off the line after the corner kick leaving Vela offsides.

Meanwhile the ESPN announcers are screaming travesty. Oh, the humanity! (Unfortunately, I can't find an ESPN clip of the goal online. The best I could do is the one above).

To be fair, it was an easy enough mistake for the announcers to make. Typically, if there's a field player between the attacking player and the goal, the attacker isn't offsides. But the unusual position of the South African keep made this an exception

What irked was that those announcers didn't then give credit to the officiating crew during the rest of the broadcast. The half-time show made a quick mention of the call being correct but it was never addressed during the game. Give credit where credit is due guys.  Refs get enough flak for blown calls, they shouldn't get more for good ones.

South African Defense, Where Were They?

Despite the home field advantage, South Africa should count themselves lucky they left this game with a tie. Mexican attackers were able to get free headers on goal much too easily. Rafael Márquez was wide open in the six-yard box, along with two other Mexican players, when he smashed in the tying goal from close range (pictured to the right). A wobbly defense doesn't bode well for the South African squad, which must face France and Uruguay next, two teams with serious offensive firepower.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco - Old, Heavy, Still Dangerous

Blanco, the oldest field player at the World Cup, looked every one of his 37 years when he lumbered on the pitch as a late-game sub for Mexico. Carrying some extra pounds and apparently wearing some concrete boots on his first couple heavy touches, Blanco looked like the only threat he would present would be to his own legacy. But after he warmed up, he showed he can still be an asset with a couple clever passes that threatened to crack the already shaky South African defense.